Nightfall
by ithacafalls
Summary: its my first story not sure how to summarise it just r&r please :D about Natsuki...and you'll have to read more to find out who she ends up with


**Disclaimer: none of the characters belong to me bla bla. This is my first story, excuse any grammatical mistakes. hope you enjoy and please R&R :D**

The dark haired young girl clenched her fist tightly, her knuckles turning white, as she stood head bowed in front of a small headstone

_I miss you_

She looked down, eyes blurring as they read the engraved message

_My world is darkness…one month gone and still all I feel is pain_

Her trembling fingers traced over the corner of the headstone into which a bird in flight had been carved, and mouthed the words, "**_a precious light taken too soon, never forgotten, impossible to replace_**"

A sudden sob racked through her body as she fell onto her knees, her fingers grabbing the soft earth underneath for support, aching for the one she lost.

_Mama_

Her heart tugged sharply; painfully aware of the fact that the body of her mother was so close yet the person she sought would never return…

_How will I go on without you?_

A soft breeze caressed the tears streaming down her cheeks, cooling them against the hot flush of her pale skin as she pressed her lips to the headstone. Closing her eyes she murmured, "goodbye mama' and before the pain of the loss threatened to overcome all her bearings she pushed herself up onto her feet, loose hair whipping behind her as she spun around and stalked out of the sheltered grove to join a subdued red head.

"Thanks for waiting Nao" she whispered as she rubbed the tear tracks off her cheeks.

"s'ok cuz" Nao hugged the older girl, knowing it did little to ease the pain but unable to offer much else. "Wanna do anything?" she added hopefully but her cousin shook her head, "its ok, why dont you go home? auntie Kaori's probably getting worried." Nao shrugged, "i told Ma we were coming to here after school, she'll understand. hey why don't we try and get into 'Lights', maybe this time we wont get kicked out before a game." she was rewarded with a laugh that didn't last long enough in her opinion, "maybe another time Nao, i want to be alone for a bit...y'know just think...dont feel like the drama of being underage in an arcade and being thrown out ...as appealing as that sounds." The shorter haired girl rolled her eyes and gently pushed her cousin with her shoulder, "i know you love it cuz, come on" but her words failed to make a difference, "nah Nao, please i want...need to just think". Nao sighed and gave her cousin a warm smile, "alright cuz, just call if you need anything"

_i need my mama_

_"_mmm thanks, i'll see you later Nao"

The two cousins went their separate ways both feeling a heavy weight in their hearts for different reasons, one lost in a place of darkness the other watching someone they loved being torn apart in front of their own eyes by a tragic death.

The dark ebony locked girl found herself walking back towards her mothers gravestone. Her emotions held up stoically until she was only ten yards or so away. stopping she leant against a slim silver birch and slid down onto the mossy floor. she opened up a small satchel and rummaged through, ignoring the school books she found what she was looking for. Her lips trembling she lifted the silk scarf to her face and felt her world crumble around her. It was the smell of her mother, faint from the material that did it. That distinct mix of cinnamon and lavender, warm and earthy; the smell of love. Hugging herself tightly the young girl rocked back and forth as the late afternoon descended into the balmy heat of the evening.

Memories of her beautiful mother kept her company as the night crept in. Her phone rung but she ignored it. When it rung out shrilly again she turned it off.

_come back to me mama_

A crunch of leaves resounded in the lower part of the grove, it started to grow nearer. Maybe it was the fact she'd been sitting there too long or the fact she wasn't naive enough to not realise given the time of night, graveyards housed many potential dangers, least of all the bogeyman.

Taking a deep shaky breath she turned and confronted whoever was approaching.

_if worse comes to worse...i can always run_

A boy with choppy strawberry blonde hair came into view as he rounded the thin path, his dark eyes were unreadable but he came up short when seeing an angry figure blocking the way.

"What do you want?"

He took a step back at the anger evident in her voice but met her glare with one of his own,

"what's your problem_?"_

_"you_ dumbass! you're bothering me"

He looked about incredulously, "last time i checked this was a public right of way, you psycho"

"what?!" The angry girl felt herself reaching boiling point and knew she had to reign herself in before she let loose the tirade of indecent words threatening to escape.

_calm down, its not his fault. he's right, this isn't private property...and mama is listening._

"look whatever blondie, i got more important things to think about than creeps in a graveyard"

"im not a creep!" she smirked at his outburst, and added

"well what are you doing so late here? creep" "what are _you?"_

_ugh why should i tell him, he's probably some loser who gets his kicks out of imagining finding treasure in old graveyards_

"well?" he prompted

"whatever. why do most reasonable people go to graveyards duh?"

She turned her back to him and walked over to her mothers resting place. She spun around when she felt a soft touch on her shoulder, "what the..." YOU?" The blonde boy raised his brows as if to say _yes me_, "what do you want now?" she had thought her ignoring his presence entirely would indicate he could get lost. He instead looked past her and she squared her shoulders back defiantly, waiting for the perfunctory pity that most people gave when finding out about the type of loss she was suffering.

Her eyes widened in suprise when his voice softly murmured, "it hurts doesn't it...so bad that you would rather die than live this pain." She nodded numbly.

Meeting his eyes she saw in it mirrored the same hurt and caught her breath at the raw emotion, "who?"

"Both of them"

She sucked in her breath, "how"

"Remember the train wreck 2 years ago…."

She nodded vaguely recalling her mum telling her about the tragic accident where a train had derailed instantly killing everyone in the first three carriages.

"…well they took the train to work every day. Carriage 2…burnt beyond recognition…I was at school when I heard"

She stood there not knowing what to say. He was a stranger practically and here he was in front of her revealing an inner pain that she had no doubt very few saw.

He narrowed his eyes and smiled with little warmth, "got out of my maths exam. Anyway what about you?"

Her green eyes glazed, feeling the loss too soon to recall, yet he had told her and for some reason she felt he would understand and offer her more than empty words. "A month ago some drunk driver…" A lump rose in her throat as she struggled to get the words out, "…I can't remember much, just I ended up after that accident without my mum and a scar decorating my body"

He looked straight at her and the corner of his lips curled up slightly, "I'm Tate Yuuichi"

She almost laughed at the strangeness of the situation if not for the fact that the laugh would soon turn to an uncontrollable weeping. "Natsuki…Kuga"

*****************************************************************************************************************************

Tate, Natsuki found out was also living with his auntie and uncle who had taken him in after being left an orphan. "They're ok" he'd grunted and she'd left it at that. Together they visited their respective loved ones graves, never impinging on the others space there but knowing nevertheless they weren't alone in how they felt.

The two started spending more time with each other as the days passed, a friendship growing from the tragic losses they shared in common. Natsuki, had surprised herself in how quickly under the circumstances that she'd found herself trusting the brown eyed boy. She had explained to him how she now lived with her Auntie and cousin Nao. He quickly realised that Nao was extremely protective over her cousin even though she was younger and was wary of her attacks which mainly consisted of sharp jibes heavy with innuendo.

"Whose this?" was the first thing out of the fiery red's mouth when Natsuki had walked in sheepishly just before the clock struck 12. Her auntie had grabbed her in a tight hug so her explanation was muffled while the boy in question stood outside the doorway with his hands stuck in his pockets. "this is Tate, i met him at the grove." Her auntie who had been giving him a long hard look softened but her daughter was harder to please. "well thats all and well Tsuki, but what is he doing here? last time i checked i didn't live in some hostel." Tate gulped when seeing the look on Naos face but Natsuki stepped in, "leave him alone Cuz. I said he could crash at our place...if its ok with Auntie." Her green eyes pleaded with Kaori who let up and agreed as long as he slept on the sofa and didn't stray. If she found out he had a questionable character he would wish he never stepped through the front door. This was all said with a smile on her face and was punctuated by Nao's raised brow and smirk. Natsuki groaned, "It's only for one night, i don't want any smart comments from you cuz!" Nao's sharp green eyes lit up as she shot back, "don't give me ammunition, you know me, i can't help but lock and load. For the moment, i'll keep any thoughts of midnight ventures between the two of you under wraps...between sheets."

"NAO!!!"

**************************************

Both Natsuki and Tate had been going to the same school but were in different classes and so had never crossed paths before and even if they had there was little they would have said to each other. Nao being a year younger and in her own words 'too cool for school" regularly skipped classes... until her mum found out. Natsuki, who used to be an avid learner under her own mothers watchful eye found herself turning away from it. interacting with so many people having to put on a mask and pretend to be ok was too much to handle. Tate it turned out was a regular 'delinquent' in the words of the school administration. After the death of his parents he had become unsociable and was prone to violent outbursts. However each found a friend in the other and soon school was missed by the two together; meeting up to do whatever suited them, which most of the time was nothing. It was on one of these days that Tate had turned to Natsuki and said, "Why don't we find the guy who did that hit and run and make him pay"

She felt her breath hitch, many months had passed but her mother's absence never failed to make itself be felt. The police hadn't got anywhere with their investigation. The man who on that fateful night had crashed into their car, leaving her mother to bleed to death while she sat helplessly trapped in the seat next to her, had yet to be found. She also knew with the little money her Auntie Kaori had, there wasn't enough incentive to view it as important enough to investigate further than necessary when they could close the case as unsolved and move on to something else.

"And how do you propose we do that brainiac? We _are_ only 13 years old" she rolled her eyes

"Well, what do you remember about the car?"

"Not much, some silver executive rich snob type of car…just like oh so many hundreds out there"

Tate persisted, "did you notice anything about it, markings?"

She groaned, "No Tate! I was too busy screaming"

_Too busy listening to the music blaring in my ear phones not listening to my mum_. She remembered Saekos green eyes twin of her own widen in surprise before the impact. Shrieking metal, burning rubber and the intensity of bright light. She stopped herself. Before that just before the hit she _had_ noticed something, a badge on the windscreen when the light from the car had bathed his for that split second, illuminating the driver and everything within.

Tate looked at her expectantly, "well…?"

Sighing she answered, "well if you really want to act like your six and play detectives I guess I can find it in me to humour you" She felt him knock her shoulders with his fist and grinned before carrying on, "like I said silver Merc"

" you never said Merc"

"whatever smartass. Anyway it was a recent model; the guy was balding and had a fatass tache. Sorry if I can't remember the exact colour of his underwear though I'm sure you could"

This time she got a pinch for her effort, she quickly talked over whatever comeback he had, "BUT I did notice this badge on his windscreen" Tate raised his brow, "what kind of badge?" "What workers have to park their car? It had a like a snake I think…this purple snake with a long spear or whatever going through it"

"Well that's narrowed it down" She wondered whether he was being sarcastic but he seemed lost in thought when she turned to look.

"OI! What are you kids doing on this site? Don't you know it's dangerous" they both jumped at the loud shout being bellowed by a man in overalls. He had a hard helmet in one hand and didn't look pleased to see the two of them there. Running through the building site they exited out of one of the entrances hotly followed by the foreman. Laughing they shot back profanities and rude gestures when they saw he had stopped and quickly slipped through a side street before he could catch them up.

"Haha, did you see his face"

"looked like a sun dried tomato, they should shelf him"

The serious subject they'd been discussing earlier was quickly forgotten as they walked to Tate's house. His uncle and auntie were both at work and they let themselves in with the spare key.

Natsuki made herself comfortable on the living sofa and switched on the TV. She heard Tate clanging in the kitchen before he appeared holding a carton of milk and a packet of crisps. "Catch" he threw them into her lap as he chugged on the open carton.

They fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the typical programmes to grace afternoon TV.

Natsuki stretched when she heard the keys to the door being turned and hid a yawn as Tate's Uncle walked in. he was slightly portly with a shock of blonde hair. "Hello kids, good day at school?" they both grunted and ignored his follow up questions. Usually he would have gone upstairs to get changed but instead he switched off the TV and sat on the coffee table in front of the sofa. A serious look crossed his face and Natsuki wondered if he had been told the days truancy not that he wasn't familiar with their history with the school. She watched him fiddle with his tie as each shift in movement caused the table to creak.

He cleared his throat and looked at her, "I'm sorry Natsuki, I have to tell Tate something, if you could please…" she got the hint and rolled her eyes dismissively. "yeah whatever. See ya Tate" he flicked his hand up without looking around and said, "Sure, I'll see you later anyway. He won't be long"

Natsuki got home and flopped herself onto her bed. Her Auntie was still at the hospital, doing whatever nurses did and Nao was still at school...well supposedly. She wondered what Tate was being told. No doubt another lecture on the troubles they caused. Really it was a surprise the most they'd had was an official warning by the police with the amount of questionable activities they'd both had done for laughs.

The photo of her mum, her silky black hair and viridian eyes so much like her own smiled at her as she took it in her hands. Her mum wouldn't be proud of her, she knew it. A part of her felt guilty but another part was angry like an inferno because her mother had left. If she wanted a good girl she should have stayed…she shouldn't have died. As always she'd hate herself for blaming her mum, unable to stop the pain she inflicted on herself, round and round the vicious circle. The love for her mum, the love her mum gave, against the ever growing emptiness of hate for the loss of it. She missed the hugs, her cheeks being pinched when she was cheeky, the soft smiles, even the firm reprimanding words if she was naughty. She needed her mum.

Gasping she allowed the tears to flow, she'd expected herself to be dry of them but every time the thoughts of her mother would let loose the dam.

"Natsuki…Natsuki!" Tate shouted through the letterbox. Drying her eyes she walked downstairs and opened the door, if he noticed her red eyes he didn't say anything. He stamped in and threw himself onto the sofa before growling "they're moving!" Natsuki furrowed her brows, "huh?"

"The Uncle and his wife! They're bloody moving"

"what? Why? When? Why??"

He punched a cushion and replied through gritted teeth, "two weeks time, he's been accepted at that major company he's wanted to work for for years apparently- Fujino Corps- Pays good, hours are good bla bla bla".

Natsuki felt her heart quicken _this can't be happening, _"where…?" "I don't know! Some god-awful place called Fukka!" his yells were muffled by the cushion. "

but Tate, that's hours away!"

"Don't you think I know that Nats?!"

She growled, grabbed a cushion and hit his head with it before getting in the stance for a full on fight!

The two weeks flew past and before she knew it she was standing outside Tate's house hugging him as his guardians sat patiently in their car, the seats packed with household items.

"You better call me, idiot"

"Whatever ginger, you'd better answer your phone"

"I'm not ginger!"

"Nothing wrong with being ginger…don't be narrow minded over hair colour"

"I'm not narrow minded!"

They both laughed and stood apart. "I'll probably go to school now I don't have you to get me to play truant"

Tate stuck his tongue out at her, "I think the bad influence was you Nats, not me"

She gave him a push helping him in her own way to get in the back of the car. As Tate put on his seat belt she glared at his uncle, didn't bother with the auntie, gave the light haired boy a snappy salute which was received with a crooked grin and walked away.

_So now not only have I lost my mother, I lose one of my best friends to a place called Fukka…life is great_


End file.
